State Department Disagrees With SIGAR Report On Funding For Afghanistan

Feb 03, 2014

News agencies report on a new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction and the State Department’s response to allegations of funding misuse.

Associated Press/Washington Post: Watchdog points finger at USAID over Afghanistan
“Money is still flowing to Afghan ministries from the U.S. Agency for International Development despite assessments that they can’t manage or account for the funding, according to a report from federal inspectors published Thursday…” (1/30).

United Press International: Questions raised over USAID funding to Afghanistan
“The State Department said it disagrees with the notion that Afghan development funds from the U.S. government were misused by the country. The Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction published a 107-page report Thursday on U.S. development aid to Afghanistan. The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it disagreed with the way in which the report was interpreted…” (1/31).

State Department: SIGAR Ministerial Assessments Audit
“…While there is no way to completely eliminate risk, USAID applies stringent oversight and accountability mechanisms to ensure that its assistance to the Afghan government is implemented properly. We disagree with the impression left by the SIGAR audit report, and conveyed in some of the surrounding media and social media campaign, that USG funds are being subjected to unnecessary risk in Afghanistan because of the deficiencies identified in the Afghan Ministries…” (1/30).